Saturday, June 07, 2008

craft project disappointment #1

Yep, #1. I have had two big craft project disappointments this week, both due to supplies that just don't live up to their expectations. Here's the first:

Gocco printed twill tape:

I've had this plan for ages to gocco print or stamp some twill tape with cute designs to sell in my shop. I decided that gocco printing would give the best results, so I bought some gocco fabric stamp ink online.

So disappointing. For ink that's especially designed for the gocco and high mesh screens, it was way too runny and bled heaps, and impossible to get a consistent print. The same design printed with paper inks was crisp and perfect. It might not look so obvious in the pic, but here's the original illustration for comparison purposes:

Freshly made screen ink blocked and ready to go.

Any suggestions of what I might have been doing wrong? I tried both stamping and squeegeeing but no success :(

25 comments:

maybe it just didn't like the twill tape? Did you try the cloth inks on a different cloth? I find the fabric makes a huge difference , not that I am an expert by any means - what you've shown of the tape looks pretty good though.

hey. i love the design. super cute. the gocco fabric ink you used ... did it come in a tube or a little tub? when i print things on fabric ... i scrape the ink through with a hard plastic tool i bought from the gocco company. it's good. the fabric ... is key. different fabrics gocco differently. i have had great luck with t-shirts. and lightweight cotton bags. but a heavier cotton bag ... similar to twill ... bled a lot, too. hmm. maybe try a lighter weight tape. just an idea. good luck!

your houses look beautiful on the twill, but I see what you meant. I think.. First, it could be the fine of the lines of the houses (too close to each other, so they filled up). Second, the twill has a diagonal lines raised up and down, so more ink goes to the top line... I think it will be always bleed, but applying same pressure at each time, all images will be as close as possible. I created my store labels with twill, use a rubber stamp with fabric ink from Versacraft http://www.tsukineko.com. And it also bleeds too. I like the imperfection-ess. See at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kangaroo-pals/2089802083/in/photostream/I think is the tape, but I will like to suggest use linen tape not twill tape on your designs. I will use twill if the image are bolder and thicker border lines.

1. Did you try printing it onto another fabric to see if it was the twill as the texture in it could cause the ink to go into the grooves and then sploge out. I notice that when screenprinting onto a more textured fabric.

2. Can you use actual fabric ink on a gocco, like permaset? I remember in high school we used to use the greenish/blue riso stuff but put it through what looked like a laminating machine with a photocopy to burn the carbon and we didn't use special riso ink we just used fabric ink. I did out end of Year 12 t-shirt with them.

3. You mentioned the high mesh screen, which I assume is for gocco on fabric, but maybe try a test with the normal screen and see the results. With screenprinting, my screens have a lower thread density because the ink absorbs into the fabric so more ink needs to come through. If I print onto paper with them it spoldges everywhere and you use a different mesh screen with a tighter weave for paper.

These are just a few things which I can think of, the tape looks great though, not sure if you only photographed a good area, but I know how annoying it is when it isn't perfect, so I can understand the disappointment.

For printing on fabric, I bought the 'screen printing' extras kit from NEHOC. It includes a larger count mesh, which you can still 'image' using the Gocco, but then you use the screen on a frame with ye olde squeegee and screen print ink. The screens are easily washed and have greater longevity, too.That said, I do agree the texture of the twill is probably some of the problem you're having here.

I recently gocco printed with my paper inks onto fabric and found the result was good with no bleeding (although I doubt it would stand up to washing - I didn't test this).Maybe cotton tape (smooth) would give you a better result than twill - just because of the grain you get with twill.

I love this design BTW - and I actually don't think the results you've shown here are bad at all :o)

I"m guessing it's got to do with the raised surface of the twill weave. The screen technically doesn't rest upon the entire surface evenly. For what it's worth, it looks very cute! I hope you can perfect the process!

I think it looks great! But I pretty much like almost anything you make because your patterns are so very cute... I feel like I notice a little bit of bleeding or blurring almost whenever I get printed twill tape. Maybe it is just a function of how the material accepts ink?

I've tried this before and not been happy with the results, fabric ink on similar twill. I think yours look very professional in comparison! It's a lovely design and I really like the brown, I hope you try again :-)

Wow, I just thought it was me. I tried to print on twill tape and with fabric, both with disappointing results. I've had very good results on paper but never on fabric. (Wish I had some advice to offer but I've been through a few trials on different fabrics and still haven't had much luck.)

HI Lara, I too had similar problems printing on twill. I think my print was too detailed and the paint bled too much. I have just used fabric paint from Spotlight, cleans off the screen easily enough and works out a little cheaper, too.

OH! One more trick I have learned that I thought I would share (if you didn't know already). If your fabric ink or paint needs heat setting which most do then stick your tape on a cookie sheet in the oven at 300F for 5 minutes instead of tedious ironing. I used Pebeo setacolor opaque fabric paint.

I have tried to write on twill tape before and it just soaks and bleeds and looks terrible. I guess the fabric paint was too heavy for the twill, and since the paper paint is lighter (i assume) it did not have as much opportunity to bleed.Looks cute though.xx

I print a lot on cotton twill ribbon and so many factor play into the final product – the weather, the amount of ink you use, the pressure you use etc. It's really a trial and error. I do think your design is fabulous and looks good! I'm sure with some practice you can get it looking cleaner :)

Look at all these helpful people that have come to your aid! :)I haven't read them all so I may be doubling up on advice from others, but here goes:My initial thought was that the tape looked too textured.. possibly try some other sort of tape.

And something that may or may not work (as I had a bleeding problem and this fixed it but it was with inks for paper)... is to put your ink in the fridge beforehand to make it a bit less runny therefore prone to bleeding.